Spotted! Sunflower star in Northern Ca
Oliver Edwards from reef check | Published on 1/31/2024
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Spotted! Sunflower star in Northern California
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Reef Check's North Coast Regional Manager Ian Norton and Dive into Science Program Manager Morgan Murphy-Cannella spotted a critically endangered sunflower star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) while conducting an MPA monitoring survey at Van Damme in Mendocino County, California on October 28th, 2023. This is an exciting find and great news for the prospect of species recovery as sunflower star is considered locally extinct, with their numbers decimated over the last decade by sea star wasting disease, contributing to the population explosion of purple urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) and the resulting loss of over 95% of bull kelp along the north coast of California. The sunflower star is an important keystone predator in the rocky reef ecosystems in Alaska and along the west coast of North America and has been on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 2020.
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